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Pinterest is the fastest growing social sharing site and marketers are freaking out like the sky is falling! When something new hits the mainstream, marketing pros everywhere start trying to figure out how to make a $$$ by being the first to try it, monetize it and then sell the instructions to others.

I’m laughing because it’s such a hen party over at Pinterest that the men can’t figure out what to do with it. They pop in and unless it’s a picture of foods or nudes, they’re confused about the appeal.

And Pinterest isn’t intuitive for people when their only interest is finding a billboard to blast their sales spiel. It’s way more about content curation and social sharing, which is the next big survival tool for marketers who intend to last.

We’ll explore the conversation about marketing on Pinterest some more later; for now – follow me on Pinterest! I’m trying to create boards that might tell me who I am and what I value. It’s a self-discovery exercise for now.

I have no issue with the list of mistakes and I mostly agree that these top leaders speak the truth about what will cause your mission as a leader to crumble around your feet, but mostly the article reminded me of what I believe a true leader is.

I was attending a leadership conference once in Dallas, and the only thing I remember vividly is this distinction between a leader and a manager. The topic made for the best discussion of the conference.

A leader has a vision, a mission if you will. She knows where she’s headed, and what she wants to have accomplished when she arrives. She is going there whether anyone follows or not, in fact she might not remember to turn around and look back. The goal and the path ahead compel her to move forward and that compelling stance creates the followers who scramble to trail behind.

A manager puts the dot on the i and the cross on the t or directs someone else to do so. The daily tasks that make the wheel go round are the realm of the manager.

The two positions are almost mutually exclusive, although in our affiliate marketing world of “go it alone”, we often find ourselves trying to do it all.

My best advice: At minimum, separate the two roles and know which one you’re doing right now. It will help. For a greater benefit, determine which one is your true character and try to put your focus there. It will make all the difference in the world.

Now, back to my reaction to the article. While true, the 10 mistakes reflect the reality of some people we call “leaders”, but I don’t see it as a failure of the leadership qualities they may have possessed. I see those 10 mistakes listed as a failure of basic human character and personality more than a failure to see the goal ahead and stride purposely towards it.

An organization tip that has served me well
Some things are so simple that I think everyone already knows, but I’ve been running into something lately that leads me to believe it’s not so universal after all. So I’ll share at the risk of looking like an idiot. 🙂

I’ll credit a techie son with this tip that has served me well for almost 10 years.

Use the domain name as a file name whenever possible

I have multiple domains and using the actual name when setting up file folders, ftp accounts, emails, etc is almost always the way to go. The first step is to create a folder named with the domain name. As things accumulate you can always sort further within that file.

Example: You’re searching for a picture you used a few years ago and you remember the subject and how you used it (the main shopping site) but the images folder has hundreds upon hundreds of photos, mostly named Christmas1, jewelry39, houseLogo. Not very useful! Instead, open the folder named [domain name] and then images and voila! Better chance of success.

Alphabetizing is a huge time and aggravation saver!

Your computer automatically keeps your folders in alphabetical order, so you have experience with how easy it is to know whether to scroll up or down when you’re looking for something in a hurry. Now do the same with spreadsheets and lists and save yourself hours of frustration.

Charts, graphs, spreadsheets and reports of any kind are mind-numbing if they have more than a few entries. If you actually have to concentrate and search deeply just to find the account, domain or item you’re seeking, it’s a productivity killer.

Our software choices make it so easy these days. Create your list with the data you have and then when you’re done – sort the data by the most important element [client] [domain] and you have information that’s actually useful.

Affiliate marketers, and marketing promotions people in general, need a calendar of events and holidays to use for planning ahead. Before social media made instant promotion possible, marketers had to plan months ahead to execute timely promotions.
These are just a few of the marketing related pieces that require good timing and an advance plan:

Circulars

Newspaper Ads

TV Commercials

Seasonal Inventory

Plan Ahead, Even For Instant Media!

Use a marketing calendar to look ahead, even though you can use Facebook and Twitter to add traction. There’s nothing like the feeling of opportunity lost when you see a fellow marketer prime her email list with a free download for the holiday. If only you had time to create something! You do have time; you just need to look ahead for the opportunities that fit your business model

Multiple site planning benefits even more!

If you have multiple sites (or clients), you benefit even more by using a promotional marketing calendar. You can scan the months ahead several times, with a different site in mind. Try it with different merchants. Try it using one of your free downloads and see how you can tweak it to tie-in with seasonal and holiday promotions.

Answer: A Tweetup is when twitter and face-to-face meet up. This could be a conference event where people who know each other via Twitter finally meet face-to-face in an organized (or at least scheduled) meeting.